The Alzheimer’s Association is seeking applications for a Senior Director of Health Services Research. The role offers an opportunity to engage in dialogue with the scientific and medical community, payers and other health systems researchers and experts, to discuss the social determinants of health, health behavior, intervention methods, program planning and evaluation, health communication, and community-based participatory research. This is an interdisciplinary opportunity, blending research economics, public health, implementation and epidemiology, among other expertise, to build a comprehensive perspective of how health systems respond to and adapt to changing healthcare environments and the broader determinants of health.

The position requires a PhD with 5-10 years of experience. Interested applicants get full details on the position and apply online at this link.

The Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) has awarded a research team including several IMPACT members more than $500,000 to study ethical issues in cluster randomized trials (CRTs).

IMPACT members Monica Taljaard, PhD, Susan Mitchell, MD, MPH, Emily Largent, PhD, JD, RN, Alex John London,PhD, and Cory Goldstein, PhD, MA are on the research team seeking to update the Ottawa Statement on the Ethical Design and Conduct of CRTs. The original Ottawa Statement was published in 2012 and remains the only international guidance document specifically focused on CRTs. The CIHR-funded research will address the ethical challenges that have resulted from growth and innovation in the field since that time. The research team will examine and address gaps identified and incorporate new recommendations into the Ottawa Statement and create two implementation guidance documents that reflect how the recommendations apply in common CRT settings.

Read more details on the full research program funded at The Ottawa Hospital at this link.

IMPACT’s Peggye Dilworth-Anderson, PhD received the Bengt Winblad Lifetime Achievement Award in Alzheimer’s Disease Research at the 2022 Alzheimer’s Association International Conference (AAIC). This award recognizes a senior investigator whose contributions have shown a lasting impact on the field and whose body of work has demonstrated a career-long commitment towards progress against Alzheimer’s and dementia. Dilworth-Anderson’s research focuses on health disparities. She is a member of the Alzheimer’s Association’s Imaging Dementia—Evidence for Amyloid Scanning (New IDEAS) Study team as well as IMPACT’s Executive Committee and Health Equity Team.

To learn more about the awards presented at AAIC 2022, visit this link.

Two IMPACT members were awarded for their outstanding research, distinguished leadership in teaching and service, and new ideas by the Gerontological Society of America (GSA). Both recipients were nominated by their peers.

María Aranda, PhD, MSW, MPA, FGSA, member of IMPACT’s Executive Committee and Health Equity Team, received the 2022 James Jackson Outstanding Mentorship Award. This award recognizes outstanding commitment and dedication to mentoring minority researchers in the field of aging.

Sheryl Zimmerman, PhD, FGSA, member of IMPACT’s Executive Committee and Patient and Caregiver Relevant Outcomes (PCRO) Core, received the 2022 Robert W. Kleemeier Award. This award is given annually to a GSA member in recognition for outstanding research in the field of gerontology.

The award presentations will take place at GSA’s 2022 Annual Scientific Meeting (November 2-6, 2022)

Read more about the awards and awardees at this link.

A blog post from Partha Bhattacharyya, Program Director, and Ama Donkor, Health Specialist, both of the Division of Behavioral and Social Research at the National Institute on Aging, describes the newest resource available from the IMPACT Collaboratory, the Long-Term Care (LTC) Data Cooperative.

The LTC Data Cooperative is the largest integrated database of detailed, normalized, electronic health record data from nursing homes in the United States. The LTC Data Cooperative is a collaboration with the American Health Care Association and funded by a supplemental grant to the IMPACT Collaboratory.

The mission of the LTC Data Cooperative is to improve the quality of care within skilled nursing facilities by compiling the most comprehensive data on nursing home residents nationwide – and to translate these data into information that is accessible and actionable. The LTC Data Cooperative was created as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic, to create way for researchers to share data and track the effects of COVID-19 vaccines administered to frail older adults, including those living with dementia.

Read the full blog post at this link, and learn more about the LTC Data Cooperative at this page.